A crowd of determined golfers braved driving rain, howling winds and unseasonably cold temperatures last Saturday at TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club to make the inaugural Neil Kish Memorial Tournament a reality.
“The Neil Kish Memorial is a golf tournament to recognize the fallen (Estevan Fire Rescue) captain that we had,” said current Fire Rescue captain and tournament organizer Kyle Luc. “He died on March 4 of this year, so we had a golf tournament to recognize him and everything that he did for the fire department and community.”
Luc said their hope was to attract 144 golfers to the first of many annual memorial golf tournaments in Neil Kish’s honour at his home course of TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club, but the bad weather and other engagements made for the smaller turnout. He said close to 100 people faced the elements on the course for the fun tournament that featured hole in one contests, longest drive challenges and closest to the pin holes, but the inclement weather eventually forced them to shut it down after nine holes.
“We looked at the weather…it was supposed to be decent after 1 p.m. and it got worse,” said Luc. “The wind picked up and the rain really started coming down, but in the end we’re all here to remember a good guy who did a lot for the community. So we all just went out there because Neil wouldn’t want us to stop. He was a real go-getter, so we just went with it.”
The Team Senchuk Ford foursome of Landon Senchuk, Devin Shirley, Steven Fichter and Chris Gould didn’t abide with the nine-hole finish and played the full 18 holes on the cold and wet afternoon. With two holes still to go, Senchuk noted the bad weather may have even helped their game.
“It’s actually not too bad, we’re sinking longer putts.”
Gould said they were participating in the tournament to help commemorate a man who was heavily involved in the community both with Estevan Fire Rescue and children’s sports. He said this was just their way to show appreciation for Kish’s efforts, while having a good time on the course.
“I played hockey for him,” said Gould. “He coached midget AA for a long time, so lots of us played hockey for him.”
Luc said Kish was a leader within the community and the fire department. He said Kish took him under his wing when he began work at Estevan Fire Rescue six years ago, just like he did with many others in numerous different venues, and this was a way to recognize that.
“We all thought we’ll come here as a community and all pull together and put the tournament on.”
